Have you ever seen brown cat? You probably have, but they are rather rare compared to the normal cat colors black, white, gray, and orange. A cat's color, as well as its pattern, are dependent on genes. But the genes that control color are rather complicated, and the expression of that color depends on both genes and chemistry. In fact, by changing the chemical makeup of a cat's diet, you can change a cat's color! SciShow explains.
So black cats are, chemically speaking, just a very deep dark brown. Many cat owners have noticed that their black cats can look brown in certain lighting conditions, and a lot of sunbathing can lighten a black cat to somewhat brown. I once had two grey and white cats, but one was just gray and white, while the other had gray stripes with tinges of brown that I had never noticed until we got the other cat. But as we've been told, the best practice is to feed your cats a complete diet formulated for cats in order to keep them healthy. You could more safely change a cat's color with food coloring, but you'll find out quickly how many household surfaces your cat touches. -via Real Clear Science
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